I will preface this review with an explanation of the five stars.  Paul McCartney is an epic figure in the musical world and his influence and popularity cannot be denied.  Everything was not perfect, but his thirty five song set with two encores was the highlight of the day and probably of many people's lives.  There will not be many more chances to see him perform and everyone there should count themselves lucky that they witnessed that amazing show.  Despite all this, to fairly judge music, one must not be influenced by some of the mentioned outside factors and imagine as if the Beatles never existed.  As a change in my usual methods though, I cannot do this because of the sheer surreal effect his performance had on me personally.

The show started as can be expected with everyone around lighting up which is unfortunate, though not a social commentary on the use of the drug.  The fact is that while many claim the substance enhances experiences it also distorts them leaving a clouded and impure memory.  This was many people's preparation for the show which took a long time to begin. Finally he comes on with his band and they start things with "Jet", one of McCartney's Wings' singles that is closer to the old magic than most of his newer music, though that is being defined as a couple decades back.  The crowd ate all of it up of course, as expected.  By the fifth song, "Got to Get You Into My Life", he said, "Something tells me we're going to have fun."  After the next song McCartney comically huffed and puffed as he took off his jacket.  He proceeded to play "Let Me Roll It" which ended with a coda of "Foxy Lady" that he called an homage to Jimi.  This went onto a cover of "Honey Hush" which he explained in a story that he first heard the song back when he was a "baby" in Liverpool at another student's flat.

Before the tenth song, McCartney got choked up and explained that the 17th of April was the anniversary of his love, Linda's passing which happened in Tucson Arizona.  He picked the day though to honor her and said she liked the desert and rock and roll, and then played "My Love".  He was in better spirits later, shown by his fiddling around on his guitar and saying, "I don't know why I'm messing around, just felt like it."  He then did weird shout outs for the crowd to repeat, which they did.  If he shouted out, "I give permission for anyone to kill me" they would probably repeat that too.

Later in the set McCartney introduced a song he would play on the ukulele saying that George was fond of the instrument and the late Beatle gave him the one he held.  He proceeded to play "Something" and dedicated it to George's wife who was in the audience.  He became choked up again before he played "A Day in The Life" saying it was an emotional day, but that it was okay to be emotional.  The next song was appropriately "Let it Be" and then "Live and Let Die", which had fire plumes shoot out on stage and then fireworks.  The last song before the encore was "Hey Jude" where he let the audience do the "na na"s at the end.  He wished everyone a beautiful day (which was almost over) and gave his guitar pick to some specific person in the front.

The middle song of the encore had McCartney "going back in time" to "Can't Buy Me Love".  The large middle screen played an old Beatles video.  After the next and last song of the encore the band held hands and did a bow.  Thirty songs would have been plenty satisfying, but out they came for a double encore, finally finishing with the reprise version of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and appropriately, "The End".

Paul McCartney was wonderful throughout the whole set, only messing up on one part of a song and on "Helter Skelter" during the second encore where he sang the lyrics too early, but for playing that many songs, he deserves a break.  As if performing damage control, McCartney complimented the crowd before the song, saying we were a "top audience".  It was an experience also to see him very open with his emotions.  McCartney went from sorrowful to silly, such as when he pretended to throw his guitar into the audience and coming together with the band for the last bow, lurching down but then acting like chimps for a moment.  The show was something to talk (or brag) about, something to immensely enjoy and something to cherish forever.

SET LIST

Jet
Drive My Car
Only Mama Knows
Flaming Pie
Got to Get You Into My Life
Let Me Roll It (with a coda of Foxy Lady)
Honey Hush
Highway
The Long and Winding Road
My Love
Blackbird
Here Today
Dance Tonight
Calico Skies
Mrs. Vanderbilt
Eleanor Rigby
Sing the Changes
Band on the Run
Back in the U.S.S.R.
Something / I've Got a Feeling
Paperback Writer
A Day in the Life > Give Peace a Chance
Let It Be
Live and Let Die
Hey Jude

First encore: Birthday
Can't Buy Me Love
Lady Madonna

Second encore: Yesterday
Helter Skelter
Get Back
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
The End